BBSI vs NSP vs TBI Stock Comparison

Barrett Business Services, Insperity and TrueBlue Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NSP Insperity, Inc.
$54.48 +11.7% 1M +17.5% 1Y
Market cap
$2.05B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$6.87B
Div. yield
0.04%
Staffing Industrials
3 wins
TBI TrueBlue, Inc.
$9.35 -4.9% 1M +62.3% 1Y
Market cap
$297.45M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.69B
Div. yield
–
Staffing Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Barrett Business Services leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Barrett Business Services 5, Insperity 3, TrueBlue 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBBSINSPTBILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $812.25M $2.05B $297.45M NSP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 23.2x -127.8x -5.3x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.7x 24.4x — BBSI
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +5.6% +2.6% +10.2% TBI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.8% -0.2% -3.3% BBSI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — -0.7% -14.6% NSP
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -4.9x -2.9x NSP
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.04% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -20.3% +17.5% +62.3% TBI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +10.3%/yr -15.0%/yr -21.9%/yr BBSI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 42.5% 67.4% 70.8% BBSI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 51/100 39/100 28/100 BBSI

Percentile Scorecard

BBSINSPTBI

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisBBSINSPTBI
Valuation 57 #49 of 112 60 #46 of 112 32 #77 of 112
Growth 37 #61 of 96 22 #75 of 96 4 #92 of 96
Profitability 44 #53 of 93 30 #65 of 93 25 #70 of 93
Financial Health 55 #57 of 126 45 #70 of 126 69 #40 of 126
Shareholder Returns 62 #26 of 67 38 #42 of 67 11 #60 of 67
Overall 51 39 28
  • BBSI ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • NSP ranked among 130 companies in Business Services
  • TBI ranked among 130 companies in Business Services

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodBBSINSPTBISPY
1 month +1.9%+11.7%-4.9% -1.0%
3 months -16.4%+12.7%+21.4% +2.9%
6 months +9.0%+66.2%+96.0% +6.4%
Year to date -8.3%+40.7%+105.5% +11.4%
1 year -20.3%+17.5%+62.3% +13.1%
3 years +51.3%-44.0%-12.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +14.8%-17.6%-4.4% +21.5%
5 years +63.0%-55.7%-70.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year +10.3%-15.0%-21.9% +10.9%
10 years +195.3%+49.1%-47.6% +255.2%
10 years, per year +11.4%+4.1%-6.3% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBBSINSPTBISPY
Volatility, 1Y 42.5%67.4%70.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 53.0%73.4%59.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.20-0.030.55 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.480.260.88 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -45.4%-84.7%-89.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.9%0.0%-13.8% -2.5%
52-week high $42.00$54.48$10.85 $779.14
52-week low $26.83$19.90$3.31 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleBBSINSPTBI
P/E now vs peer median 23.1xmedian 21.0x -129.4xmedian 21.0x -5.0xmedian 21.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.6xmedian 0.9x 0.3xmedian 0.9x 0.2xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.0xmedian 12.3x 45.9xmedian 12.3x -16.9xmedian 12.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 51.5xmedian 15.1x 10.7xmedian 15.1x -4.2xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 2.4x 34.1xmedian 2.4x 1.1xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median -3.93median 1.02 4.66median 1.02 0.06median 1.02

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsBBSINSPTBI
Revenue $1.27B $6.87B $1.69B
Gross profit $253.07M $886.00M $358.54M
Operating income $52.24M -$3.00M -$48.58M
Net income $35.08M -$16.00M -$56.62M
Free cash flow $15.52M $194.00M -$67.44M
EPS (diluted) $1.42 $-0.41 $-1.86
Cash & equivalents $27.04M $619.00M $23.25M
Total debt – $1.53B $82.40M
Shares (diluted) 24.71M 39.00M 30.41M
Enterprise value $385.55M -$228.46M $205.66M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricBBSINSPTBI
P/E 23.1x -129.4x -5.0x
P/FCF 51.5x 10.7x -4.2x
P/Operating cash flow 21.8x 9.2x -5.2x
P/S 0.6x 0.3x 0.2x
P/B 3.9x 34.1x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 3.9x 34.1x 1.2x
EV/EBITDA 12.0x 45.9x -16.9x
EV/EBIT 14.0x -627.0x -7.1x
EV/Revenue 0.6x 0.3x 0.2x
EV/FCF 47.1x 9.7x -5.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 20.0x 8.4x -6.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.93 4.66 0.06

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBBSINSPTBI
Revenue growth (1Y) 5.6% 2.6% 10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.9% 3.0% -6.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.3% -9.6% -6.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 2.3% -5.3% -13.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -17.0% -106.4% -41.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.1% -26.3% -66.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -34.9% -140.0% -67.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -9.2% -27.8% -76.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -30.9% -139.0% -64.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -5.9% -27.8% -77.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 854.5% 524.5% -56.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -4.5% -4.0% -37.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 234.5% 308.6% -23.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.5% -4.0% -47.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBBSINSPTBI
Gross margin 20.0% 12.9% 21.2%
EBITDA margin 4.8% 0.6% -1.2%
Operating margin 4.1% 0.0% -2.9%
Pretax margin 4.8% 0.0% -3.2%
Net margin 2.8% -0.2% -3.3%
FCF margin 1.2% 2.8% -4.0%
Operating cash flow margin 2.9% 3.3% -3.2%
Return on equity 17.1% -25.0% -22.2%
Return on assets 4.7% -0.7% -9.1%
Return on invested capital – -0.7% -14.6%
Return on capital employed 15.4% -0.5% -10.1%
Asset turnover 1.7x 3.1x 2.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.0x -14.1x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.8% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBBSINSPTBI
Debt / assets – 18.8% 13.2%
Debt / equity – 6.9x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – -4.9x -2.9x
Debt / FCF – 2.2x -1.2x
Liabilities / assets 71.4% 97.3% 59.1%
Equity / assets 28.6% 2.7% 40.9%
Interest coverage 312.8x -0.1x –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.1x 2.3x
Quick ratio 1.6x 0.9x 2.1x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.4x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 3.40 4.14 3.89

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBBSINSPTBI
Dividend yield 1.0% 4.4% –
Net buyback yield 7.2% 0.2% -0.1%
Shareholder yield 8.1% 4.6% -0.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -568.8% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 46.9% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 1.1% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 3.6% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusBBSINSPTBI
Forward P/E 23.7xFY2026 24.4xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $1.40FY2026 $2.23FY2026 $-0.02FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -32.7%FY2026 +116.5%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +37.9% +26.5% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.34BFY2026 $6.45BFY2026 $1.63BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.0%FY2026 -5.4%FY2026 +0.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.8% +6.0% +4.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBBSINSPTBI
Held by institutions 88.6% 100.0% 85.1%
Institutions holding 198 276 115
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.1% +2.4% +0.6%
Institutions buying 111 179 61
Institutions selling 55 58 37
Buyers to sellers 2.02 3.09 1.65

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

BBSINSPTBI
BBSI 1.00 0.44 0.18
NSP 0.44 1.00 0.13
TBI 0.18 0.13 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BBSI, NSP and TBI?

Insperity (NSP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Barrett Business Services (BBSI) $812.25M, Insperity (NSP) $2.05B, TrueBlue (TBI) $297.45M.

Which company is growing faster?

TrueBlue (TBI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Barrett Business Services (BBSI) +5.6%, Insperity (NSP) +2.6%, TrueBlue (TBI) +10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Barrett Business Services (BBSI) has the highest net margin (Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 2.8%, Insperity (NSP) -0.2%, TrueBlue (TBI) -3.3%). On return on invested capital, Insperity (NSP) leads (Insperity (NSP) -0.7%, TrueBlue (TBI) -14.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year TrueBlue (TBI) returned the most: Barrett Business Services (BBSI) -20.3%, Insperity (NSP) +17.5%, TrueBlue (TBI) +62.3%. Over five years, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) compounded fastest (Barrett Business Services (BBSI) +10.3%/yr, Insperity (NSP) -15.0%/yr, TrueBlue (TBI) -21.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 0.00%, Insperity (NSP) 0.04%, TrueBlue (TBI) 0.00%. Barrett Business Services (BBSI) and TrueBlue (TBI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) has been the steadiest (Barrett Business Services (BBSI) 42.5%, Insperity (NSP) 67.4%, TrueBlue (TBI) 70.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BBSI, NSP and TBI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Barrett Business Services (BBSI) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.